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Fact Check

2021 Photo Of Oil Refinery Fire Falsely Linked To Israeli Attack On Iran

Written By Vasudha Beri, Edited By Pankaj Menon
Oct 26, 2024
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Claim

Photo shows explosion in Tehran following recent Israeli attack on Iran. 

Screengrab from Facebook post by @dan.arewa.3

Such posts can be seen here, and here.

Also Read: Viral Posts Falsely Claim ‘Jai Shri Ram’ Chants During Disengagement At India-China Border

Fact

A Google lens search on the viral image led us to a report by Al Jazeera Mubasher, dated June 2, 2021, titled “A major fire broke out in an oil refinery south of Tehran.” Carrying the same photo, it stated “A major fire broke out at the Tondgooyan oil refinery south of the Iranian capital, Tehran, on Wednesday, and no casualties have been reported so far. (translated from Arabic via Google)”

Notably, the image was credited to AFP

Photo shows explosion in Tehran following recent Israeli attack on Iran. 
Screengrab from Al Jazeera Mubasher website

Also Read: Viral Photo Claiming To Show Aircraft Landing At Beirut Airport Amid Israeli Attack Is AI Generated

We then looked up keywords “Iran,” “Oil refinery,” and “fire” on the AFP forum website, and were able to spot the same photo that has been shared to show the recent Israeli attack on Iran. “A picture taken on June 2, 2021, shows smoke billowing from the site of a refinery fire in the Iranian capital Tehran. A fierce blaze broke out at a refinery in southern Tehran after a liquefied gas line leaked and exploded, the head of the capital’s crisis team said on state television,” it’s description stated.

The photo was also listed on Getty Images with the same caption. 

A Reuters report on the incident stated, “Iran’s semi-official Tasnim news agency said all operations had been suspended at the facility, known as the Tondguyan refinery, as firefighters tried to contain the blaze.”  “A leak at a liquid gas pipeline at the facility sparked the fire,” Mansour Darajati, the head of Tehran’s crisis management organisation was quoted as saying. 

Also Read: Also Read: Mallikarjun Kharge Shunted Out Of Room As Priyanka Gandhi Files Nomination? Here’s The Truth Behind Viral Video

Thus we find that a 2021 photo showing a fire in an oil refinery in Tehran due to a leak at a liquid gas pipeline has been falsely linked to the recent Israeli attack on Iran.

Result: False

Sources
Report By Al Jazeera Mubasher, Dated June 2, 2021
AFP Website
Getty Images Website


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